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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Airport plans office building

Spokane airport officials say they will move forward this spring with plans to build a $3.5 million mixed-use office building on airport property on the West Plains.

Airport officials said Thursday they are still examining their options on how to finance the 30,000-square-foot project, including the possibility of partnering with a private developer.

In mid-2002, airport board members approved a contract to design what was originally slated to be a center for technology companies.

While no contract has been awarded for construction, Integrus Architects of Spokane has prepared the design for the building site, about two miles from the main terminal, along the inbound road of Airport Drive from Spokane.

Workers started last summer on the initial roadwork and extension of utilities for the site, said airport spokesman Todd Woodard. That work will resume this spring, followed by building construction if financing and a partnership deal is completed, he said.

“We’ll definitely get the building started this year,” he said. “Whether it’s finished (this year) remains to be seen,” said Woodard.

The delay between initial approval and spadework was due to a variety of factors, including revisions in how the building would be used, said Woodard.

Early in the game, the airport considered sharing development and management with the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute. Airport officials and SIRTI managers saw the building as an incubator for businesses moving out of SIRTI’s Riverpoint Higher Education Park building.

That proposal never materialized as both parties looked at other options. “We could never agree on terms of management and responsibility,” said Woodard.

SIRTI eventually settled on its own project, the SIRTI Technology Center. That two-story lab and office complex is expected to be finished later this year not far from the SIRTI office building on the east edge of downtown.

Until now the airport’s efforts to move forward were hampered by lack of capital and a struggling regional economy, said Woodard.

To move the project further along, airport officials agreed that work needed to continue this year on the road and utilities, Woodard added.